Andy Shauf, ‘The Party’

Aidin Vaziri | Andy Shauf is a gentle singer-songwriter from Saskatchewan with a mean wit. On his latest album, “The Party,” he offers beautifully orchestrated vignettes from his perch as a wallflower, spinning out 10 songs that capture the parade of characters and events unfolding before his eyes at an all-night fete. His classic-sounding compositions evoke the likes of Harry Nilsson and “Ram”-era Paul McCartney, while Shauf breathily narrates life’s most awkward moments in silvery tunes like “Early to the Party” and “Quite Like You.” There are traces of his personal hero Elliott Smith in there as well, especially in the way his melancholy moods play off the lush instruments — all of which he incidentally plays himself. This is one soiree you don’t want to miss.